includes the phrase, “…Giving Prime Members Even More Video Content for Their New Kindle Fire”.

Is this addition (which probably cost Amazon a pretty penny) supposed to encourage Prime members to buy a Kindle Fire? Well, yes, but more important (in my opinion), it’s to get Kindle Fire buyers to buy Prime.

Let’s look at the two populations.

Somebody who is already a Prime member gets the free streaming Prime videos whether they get a Fire or not. They are already using Prime to buy things from Amazon, and reportedly, they spend a lot more money with Amazon than non-Prime members. If they get a Fire, it may increase their purchasing of digital content from Amazon, and sure, they may use Prime even more, since it will be so convenient (when connected to wi-fi).

On the other hand, a lot of people will get a Fire who don’t have Prime now…heck, people may join Amazon when they get a Fire, especially if they get one as a gift. Amazon will also give them a free month of Prime. During that month, they’ll experience the video, but hopefully also start buying things through Prime. How cool will it be during the holidays especially to get things in two-days with no minimum? Somebody wants a particular gift…and two (business) days later, you have it. It may not always be quite that fast…that’s the shipping speed, not the order-to-delivery speed, but it should be very fast. Hopefully, in Amazon’s point of view, that spoils them and they don’t give it up.

Did you say that you had to run an errand this past weekend? You just figured you’d have to get to a given store some time in the next couple of days? Getting it from Prime is easier than that.

That’s the shift that the Fire investment gives Amazon…getting people to get all sorts of goods from Amazon, rather than from a brick-and-mortar store. That’s why it’s worth paying Disney/ABC for the licensing…not to just get them to get a Fire, not even to get them to pay $79 a year to Amazon for Prime…but to get them to mentally shift to getting day-to-day goods from Amazon.

By the way, CW fans, I know you may be wondering why I didn’t mention you in the network set. Anybody? Well, you can get Supernatural and Smallville episodes, even if they aren’t part of free streaming…yet.